By now, most eyecare practitioners  and
many of our patients  know about the recent Fusarium keratitis outbreak.
The lay media has done a thorough job of reporting this issue  and then some.
One advantage to this attention is that many patients are finally taking a proactive
approach to their lens care. This gives us a great opportunity for proper patient
education.

Here is a review of the latest Fusarium information:

 Fusarium is a fungus commonly found in organic matter
such as soil and plants. Fusarium keratitis is not transmittable from one
person to another. People most at risk for this type of infection include the immunocompromised
and those who have trauma and/or certain diseases of the eye.

 Fusarium infections are rare in the United States.
Fungal infections are more common in warmer climates. For example, 35 percent of
corneal infections in the southeastern United States are caused by a fungus, vs.
just 1 percent in New York. During this recent outbreak, however, Fusarium
infections occurred all over the nation.

 There are 30 million contact lens wearers in the United
States. At press time, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) received
reports of 130 confirmed cases, 125 of whom were contact lens wearers; 118 could
identify which solution they used. Of those, 75 reported using ReNu with MoistureLoc
(Bausch & Lomb), which is disproportionate to its market share.

 B&L voluntarily and permanently recalled MoistureLoc
worldwide. The CDC and the U.S. Food & Drug Administration found no evidence
of product contamination, tampering, counterfeiting or sterility failure.

In a letter to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, B&L
stated that MoistureLoc's preservative, alexidine, is effective, but if allowed
to evaporate, if not regularly replaced in the lens case, or when the bottle is
kept open between uses or the case isn't cleaned properly or replaced regularly,
"the concentration of the polymers included in the formula to enhance comfort may
make the solution more likely to be contaminated with Fusarium in the environment."

Other studies have shown various products to be less effective
against Fusarium under sustained high temperature conditions.

Lens Care Reminders

In summary, noncompliance with contact lens care may have played
a role in some of the cases in this

outbreak. To ensure healthy lens wear for your patients, urge
them to follow these instructions:

 Always wash your hands with soap and water before handling
contact lenses.

 Wear and replace lenses according to the schedule prescribed
by your practitioner.